Inside My Head: Nicky Wire - NME, 28th April 2007

Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm(From the album Siamese Dream; 1993, Hut)
"While we've been making the new album, we've been listening to Smashing Pumpkins again, as well as Nirvana and loads of classic rock like Boston. The Pumpkins have been written out of history, which is unfortunate. Billy Corgan has a lot of nastiness directed at him, but he's made some truly memorable records. What do I think of the reunion? well, it's not the whole band is it. It's a bit shit. D'Arcy [Wretzky] is one of my favourite bass players of all time."

MY WEEK'S PLAYLIST

1) Guns N' Roses - Welcome To The Jungle(Geffen)
"They should play this stuff for kids in schools. And thank God for guitar players who don't wear their guitars round their neck like fucking George Formby."

2) Razorlight - In The Morning(Vertigo)
"I admire people who really piss people off and no-one's better at it than Johnny Borrell. He's actually a really good songwriter, but I just like the fact that no-one likes him."

3) Klaxons - Golden Skans(Rinse/Polydor)
"This has ambitious, original and intriguing lyrics. It's a shame everyone started liking them really. I preferred it when everyone thought they were a joke."

4) Sonic Youth - Star Power(SST)
"I've been trying to get this on CD for ages as I'm not really into downloads and that. It's mesmeric, powerful and daring, but really tuneful. We kind of modelled 'Starlover' [Original 'You Love us' B-side] on it."

5) Neil Young - Heart Of Gold(Geffen)
"Sometimes I can't stand Neil Young and sometimes I love him. At the moment he gives a sense of order and calmness to my world."

MY HERO

George Orwell
"I nicked loads of Homage To Catalonia for 'If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next', so he indirectly gave us our biggest hit. And obviously 1984 is untouchable, as is The Road To Wigan
Pier. He informed a lot of my political opinions. He's the quintessential British hero."

AND ANOTHER THING...

Various Voices by Harold Pinter
"It's Pinter's collection of his prose, his poetry and his politics. There's this really short poem that goes 'I know the place/It is true/Everything we do/Corrects the space between/Death and
me and you', which is like some beautiful kind of haiku. It shows how politically motivated he is in his plays. He's part of a dying breed of people who tried to mix everything within their work."